


The Dwarves Sing

by estelendur



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-29
Updated: 2012-12-29
Packaged: 2017-11-22 19:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/613413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estelendur/pseuds/estelendur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwarf songs are not about ale, or gold, or revenge. But nobody is willing to properly listen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dwarves Sing

**Author's Note:**

> Aulë, the Smith God (essentially), created the Dwarves, because he wanted children to teach.

Aulë sang the creation of the world, too. People forget that.

He loves music, as do all the Valar, so when his children, his Dwarves, awoke, he taught them that, as well.

Dwarf songs are not about ale. They are about the smell of roasting grain, the sight of hops growing up the mountainside out of carefully tended plots of soil, the bitter foam of a heady brew, the sound of liquid flowing out of a lovingly carved tap.

Dwarf songs are not about gold. They are about the rivers of metal that pierce the night of the mine, the lustre of worked and polished armbands, the sound of jeweler's hammers, the glowing contrast of precious garnet and sapphire.

Dwarf songs are not about revenge. They are about the ache of a lost homeland, the betrayal of greed, the grief of being the last of your line.

The Dwarves sing deep in their halls, underground or around a campfire. They do not sing where Men or Elves or Hobbits can hear.

Aulë has not been out of Valinor in four thousand years, and he is the only one who has ever properly listened.

The Dwarves sing without their Father. The Dwarves sing alone.


End file.
